What Manga are you reading?

[Maokun]

Here, have a page or two from later on.

Dude, that looks like a totally different manga, incredible.

[Neane]

Now that I am done with my College for this quarter, I will now begin the task of reading Eden: It's an Endless World!. Here goes nothing.

[rocklobster]

Currently reading Rurouni Kenshin, Nausicaa, and Yotsuba.

[_GazeRockMei_]

Reading +C Sword and Cornett. So far it's really interesting.

[Atria35]

Kare Kano 1-6- This is where I left off last time, but it's been so long that I really needed to re-read them. And now I have the next two volumes!

[the_wolfs_howl]

Gin no Saji chapter 34 - The headmaster is so adorable XD

Tsubasa Chronicle chapters 197-202 - I am slightly less confused!

I so wanted to warn you of this, but you seemed so happy that I thought I wouldn't spoil your joy with tales of the doom coming. TRS is one of those series were the journey is what's matter, not the destination.

To be honest, I'm not terribly surprised by now. During the first half of the series, I was expecting a generic, fluffy-happy ending where everything turns out okay. Ever since chapter 118, I never know quite what to expect.

[Atria35]

Shaman King 1-6- This is actually pretty cute. I'm rather impressed since I feel like I'm getting a lesson in how different cultures view death at the same time getting an action story.

Kare Kano 7-8- More stuff happens. Really, it's pretty good.

[aliveinHim]

I just finished Rurouni Kenshin and I'm now reading Full Moon O Sagashite.

[Neane]

Thus far, Eden: It's an Endless World! is pretty much one of the best things I have read in a long time.

And The Voynich Hotel is pretty much my favorite comedy manga at this moment in time.

Edit: Finished 20th Century Boys.

It was a string of cool ideas which sadly did not have any connections. It does not have the coherency of say Monster or the same fun issues to ponder. All it has is GUUUTALALA SUUDALALA and messing with the audience. I don't care who Friend is, for no matter who he'd turn out to be, it'd be uninteresting and will not change anything at all.


But for the heck of it I will read 21st Century Boys.

[Maokun]

Edit: Finished 20th Century Boys.

It was a string of cool ideas which sadly did not have any connections. It does not have the coherency of say Monster or the same fun issues to ponder. All it has is GUUUTALALA SUUDALALA and messing with the audience. I don't care who Friend is, for no matter who he'd turn out to be, it'd be uninteresting and will not change anything at all.


But for the heck of it I will read 21st Century Boys.

I'd contest that for the first 3/5s of the manga there was a very coherent and compelling plot. It was only on the last half that Urasawa seemed unable to stop adding more and more cool ideas (after reading many of his manga, I'd say this is a vice of his) and shifting the character focus wildly and much of the continuity and the engaging mystery was sent flying through the window. I still love this manga to bits.

I've finished volume 03 of Negima! and volume 7 of Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou. Negima! is still growing out of the annoyingly trite underpants of its introductory phase, but YKK is now much more boldly revealing hints of the mystery surrounding the unusual setting of the story. It still remains largely, an excuse for the author to draw cute girls, doing every day stuff in beautiful and lovingly rendered sceneries.

[Atria35]

Ultra Maniac 1-5 (all)- This was really cute. Somewhat cliched, but does it well.

[Neane]

Finished Eden: It's an Endless World!. If only there were more like this one around.

[_GazeRockMei_]

Reading Heart no Kuni de Ochakai, Clover no Kuni no Alice, and +Anima.

[AdriTan]

Mixed Vegetables :-D

[Apricot0194]

Yotsuba&! It's really funny.

[MangaRocks!]

La Corda d'Oro vol. 15: *Sigh*... mixed feelings here. Yes, the romance is way too cliche (and really kinda lifeless, too... at least with who she chose ), and there's a bit too much fluff/filler, besides. But I keep reading it, and will see the series through to the end, for the same reason that I started: The music and the characters' commitments to it, which I have a bit of a soft spot for (...both listening to and playing music is very important to me, and in fact I play several instruments myself-- including the violin!-- so I connected with that). That's really the only reason, though.


Spice & Wolf (novel #3): This volume furthered the trend of the series getting continually better-- the church jabs were still present (and still annoying when they appeared), but (thankfully) were considerably lessened; and Holo and Lawrence's relationship was as great as ever.


Kimi ni Todoke vol. 13: *snort* Uh, you'd think that Ayane would know better than to goad poor Kazehaya on like that... [spoiler]I mean, he and Sawako only just started calling each other by their first names (and only sparingly and in private, at that), and they haven't even *kissed* yet-- they're not going to go *that* far! [/spoiler] Aside from that, though , this volume was pretty good, particularly because of Kazehaya's family (who were all fairly amusing) and that super-cute scene between Sawako and Kazehaya at his house.


Gin no Saji, a.k.a. Silver Spoon, chapters 34-35: Bwahahahaha!! Weren't expecting Mikage to tell or ask you THAT, were you Hachiken? :lol::lol: (But, of course, it didn't necessarily mean what he thought it did... ) And aww, what Mikage said at the end of chapter 35-- if you connect it with something that she had said about Hachiken earlier in the series-- was really sweet.


And finally, Natsume's Book Of Friends, a.k.a. Natsume Yuujinchou, vol. 11: Okay-- I recently posted in the "Good Shoujo Manga" thread, and one of my recommendations was Natsume. In that post, I mentioned that its rating was like an 8.5 right now, and that I'd almost certainly rate it a 9 by its end. But after reading vol. 11, all I have to say is that if it keeps this up, I'm going to give it a 9 a whole lot sooner than that!

[blkmage]

[quote="MangaRocks! (post: 1544451)"]Spice & Wolf (novel #3): This volume furthered the trend of the series getting continually better-- the church jabs were still present (and still annoying when they appeared), but (thankfully) were considerably lessened]
I feel like this is something that should probably be addressed. It's extremely important, especially for a series that tries to depict the period that it's set in accurately, to consider its criticisms of the church in context. The church during the time that Spice & Wolf is set in is not always the nicest institution. The church was a largely political institution and held a considerable amount of power and influence over many aspects of society. Think of the disdain that a lot of people have for politicians today. That's likely the mood of the average commoner living under the church back then.

[MasterDias]

Kingdom: This is a pretty good read. A historical/action/seinen series based on the Warring States Period and the formation of China's first imperial dynasty. Currently has something like 24 or 25 volumes, of which less than 2 are translated. It's still early, but I like what I read so far and it is shaping up to be rather epic. I've heard that the author was apparently an assistant to Takehiko Inoue.
It has an anime coming out this summer.

Toaru Majutsu no Index: New Testament (novel #4): A kind of "battle royale" volume, similar to novel #15 of the original series. Notably mostly focused on characters just introduced in this volume. Lots of action in this book; and one character who has abilities that are downright nightmare fuel, but make for some...interesting fights.

Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches: Latest series by the Yankee-kun to Megane-chan author. Fun so far and has a similar tone to her previous work, but I don't yet have much of an idea on what the title actually has to do with the series. I haven't really been a huge fan of body-switching stories, but it shows some potential here.

Big Order: Latest series by the Mirai Nikki author, who now appears to be channeling JoJo's Bizarre Adventure...

[MangaRocks!]

I feel like this is something that should probably be addressed. It's extremely important, especially for a series that tries to depict the period that it's set in accurately, to consider its criticisms of the church in context. The church during the time that Spice & Wolf is set in is not always the nicest institution. The church was a largely political institution and held a considerable amount of power and influence over many aspects of society. Think of the disdain that a lot of people have for politicians today. That's likely the mood of the average commoner living under the church back then.

Oh, I know]my post about the first novel[/URL]. It's just that, IMO, some of it can occasionally be a bit... excessive. I mean, again, as I said in that post I linked to, just because some people were/are Christians-in-name-only, that's not a reason to throw derision on the entire faith itself. That's all I was saying.

Just to make it clear, though, I *do* enjoy the series otherwise.

[Atria35]

GTO 1-2- This is pretty good~! I'm looking forward to reading the rest of it!

Kare Kano 9-13- So glad mom brought these back! I need to return them to the library, so today was a marathon read.

[AnimeGirl]

Last Hope, Vol.1 = Got it in the mail yesterday and read it. It's very fast paced...no room for much character developement. Though it's sort of understandable. After just reading it again, I like it better the second run. It doesn't feel as rushed as it did last time I read it. Sure, the story isn't really all that unique and special, but still fun none-the-less.

[blkmage]

Oh, I know]my post about the first novel[/URL]. It's just that, IMO, some of it can occasionally be a bit... excessive. I mean, again, as I said in that post I linked to, just because some people were/are Christians-in-name-only, that's not a reason to throw derision on the entire faith itself. That's all I was saying.

Just to make it clear, though, I *do* enjoy the series otherwise.

I agree with that sentiment, but I think that in historical context, it's not excessive at all and pretty justified. The problem isn't just that some people may have been Christians in name only, but that these people wielded significant authority and influence and abused it. It's not so much a criticism of the faith as it is a criticism of the institution.

[Neane]

I have been reading Red Eyes for the past week.

This is the best mecha and/or modern day warfare manga ever made. It is Mecha warfare done right.
This manga is, in one word: Epic.
One thing I love about this manga is how realistic it is. This manga is so realistic and all technology in this manga is very plausible to be or has been invented in this world.
The Main Character is a action hero seeking vengeance, kind of like the Count of Monte Cristo, but way more trigger-happy.
And I really, really, really adore the armored suits.

Also, what I really love is how the mangaka really paid attention to the logic of the manga. He thoroughly thought up the whole setting, the reason behind technology, the cause of the hero's bada**ery, the succession of historical events, and also the strategy being deployed by each faction and perfectly put them into this manga. I can tell that the mangaka is a Huge Warbuff. He really knows his stuff.

[the_wolfs_howl]

Gin no Saji chapter 35

Tsubasa Chronicle chapters 203-220 - The climax is turning out to be quite awesome. And...I think I understand how the backstories fit together now XD Though I bet a lot of it would make more sense if I knew Cardcaptor Sakura or something.

[SincerelyAnomymous]

Read the second volume of Spice and Wolf. It just keeps getting better and better ^^

[AnimeGirl]

Volume 1 of CLAMP's Clover.

Very different from most manga I have read. Very experimental, and artistically beautiful. I am a bit lost as to what is going on, but I find it intriguing. Got about...two or three more volumes left in the omnibus to go! And it has SUCH PRETTY color artwork! I also love how they experiment with negative space. It adds such a unique feel to it, and gives a focus to the characters.

[MangaRocks!]

I agree with that sentiment, but I think that in historical context, it's not excessive at all and pretty justified. The problem isn't just that some people may have been Christians in name only, but that these people wielded significant authority and influence and abused it. It's not so much a criticism of the faith as it is a criticism of the institution.

Fair point, I suppose.

[Vii]

Kimi ni Todoke - Ch. 42-66
I started where the second anime season left off. And it's seriously D'AWWWWWWWW. :3
[spoiler] I can't wait to see how this Ryu/Chizuru business in resolved, but I'm also finding myself wanting to yell at Shouta and Sawako to just start communicating more with each other. Honestly, a lot of their distance issues could be resolved if they stopped keeping their feelings from one another. I can sort of get how it would work, though, both of them are extremely kind to everyone, and neither wants to bug the other, so they just keep it to themselves, but really, they need to talk to each other, it's the only way they can resolve this.

Also, while Kento was an annoying idiot in the anime, he doesn't bug me as much in the manga. He's still pretty shallow and often idiotic, but he really does want to help people, he just doesn't always do it in the best way.
...and he helped Ayane, which was sweet.[/spoiler]

[AnimeGirl]

Finished CLAMP's Clover. Oh wow....

This story...made me cry. Then again, from how it was going, it's obviously going to be sad. But still! I liked the first two volumes the best. Volume three was interesting, but I did not care much for the final volume. All and all, I enjoyed the story. It was very different, and I love how experimental it was. The art was so gorgeous, and the negative space and focus on characters made it feel so mystical. <3

[Atria35]

NOW 1-4- THe first 4 volumes in a 25 volume manhwa series... and I have no way to read the rest of it! And it was off to such a great start! DARN YOU MY LIBRARY!